


Salvaged

by vladamsandler



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Incomplete, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 16:25:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14877278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vladamsandler/pseuds/vladamsandler
Summary: Imagining what happened after Infinity War: Part One with a focus on Tony and Nebula on Titan.This kind of drops off. Sorry, I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to continue it. But I’m proud of what I have so far.





	Salvaged

 

His ears are ringing. It doesn’t feel real. It’s like this is just another stress nightmare and he’ll wake up in a sweat next to Pepper any minute.

He feels numb. The seconds tick by and they’re all still gone. They failed. He failed. He saw it all coming and they still lost. He should’ve done more, he should’ve—

“Human. Let’s go.” Nebula shoves him and Tony suddenly snaps back to reality.

He watches her stalk away, blinking dumbly. His suit is in ruins so he iniates an idle salvage and self-repair program with shakey fingers. What’s left of the nanotech armor retreats back into his jacket and he stands slowly.

“Don’t make me carry you.” Nebula growls.

“Excuse me, who even are you?” Tony snaps sardonically. The effect is lost on his slightly broken voice, quiet and hoarse from holding back sobs.

“My name is Nebula, sister of Gamora and slayer of Titans. Thanos thinks he has won, but he has made the grave mistake of sparing my life. And yours.” Nebula turns and keeps walking away. “We can escape this world upon Quill’s vessel.”

Tony clears his throat. “Okay, alien lady, slayer chick, slow down.” He hobbles after her, wincing at the pain below his ribs where Thanos had impaled him on his own weapon. “I don’t think it’s quite set in for you yet, but in case you haven’t noticed, the war is over. Thanos won. They’re all gone!” Tony’s voice cracks slightly and he stops at the top of a hill of rubble with his arms extended.

Nebula scowls at him. “Your humanity is showing.”

Tony raises an eyebrow and glances down reflexively.

“So quick to concede.” Nebula turns on her heel and crunches down the hill of broken metal and rock. “I’m beginning to question the wizard’s decision to bargain for your life... at such a great cost...” She shakes her head, no longer seeming to wait for him to follow.

“Ah, fuck...” Tony mutters as he scrambles down the mound of rubble to catch up. He doesn’t want to think about why Strange did what he did. He can’t wrap his head around this cosmic chess game that has become his life. What about him could be so important that a master of the mystic arts would reliquish the Eye of Agamotto and the time infinity stone in order to save his life?

What did Strange see?

Tony screams as a metal claw grasps his leg and he’s swung upside down and into the air. He rises high above the surface of Titan as the claw retracts and painfully yanks him inside a dark ship. The robotic appendage tosses him onto the hard floor and slightly knocks the wind out of him.

“Motherfucker...” he wheezes.

“I refuse to remain idle while Thanos still breathes,” Nebula grits from one of five control docks at the front of the Milano.

“Well, please accept my sincerest apologies for bleeding internally!” Tony retorts. He coughs violently for a moment before lying back against the cold floor, hoping unconsciousness will take him quickly.

“Stop whining like some stupid animal.” She throws a small object at him over her shoulder and Tony dodges it apathetically. “Heal your wounds.”

“Oh, is this my complimentary tricorder? Set speed to warp factor nine, Commander Sulu!” Tony picks up the sleek handheld device. “Analyze,” he murmers into his collar.

“Detecting low levels of nonlethal radiation. It appears to be some sort of biophasal scanner and molecular restructuring laser,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. responds.

Nebula ignores the human’s annoying squawks and focuses on realigning the communication relay. She adjusts the frequency detection to Earth’s coordinates and preps the engines for interstellar travel.

Tony grunts as a blue light scans his torso, emitted from the device. His skin tingles as the fanned light narrows to a small beam and penetrates the temporary graft he’d improvised on Titan. His head knocks against the metal wall behind him as he closes his eyes and tries to ignore the feeling of his internal organs miraculously restitching themselves together.

“Suit status?”

“Sixty-five percent recovered. Repulsors undamaged. Propulsion systems offline,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. responds in her unique accent.

“Alright. Keep me posted.”

The light from the device in his hand blinks green and disappears after a few minutes. Tony tosses it aside and takes a couple deep breathes to test his aching diaphram, but everything still feels bruised. He braces against a metal compartment jutting out from the side wall and pulls himself upright. “Okay, what’s the plan?” he asks as he approaches Nebula at the command dock. Perhaps focusing on this woman’s pipe dream assassination will help distract him from their truly hopeless situation.

“Thanos will not have gone far. The last stone to retrieve was on Terra. There’s a system in that supercluster that he may have retreated to. It’s the first place—“

A irritating alarm interrupts her midsentence and screen pops out of the left side of the control panel flashing red symbols.

“That looks bad. Is that bad? What’s that mean?” Tony points lazily at the screen, bored with the idea of imminent danger. He doesn’t care to examine his sudden impassivity towards the possibility of a cold death in the vacuum of space.

Nebula punches a few buttons with a scowl. “What the hell,” she spits in annoyance.

Tony drops into the seat behind another nearby command dock and fiddles with the buckle. “It’s always something out here, innit? Always someone trying to kill you.”

“I have no obligation to answer for the reputation I’ve garnered as the daughter of— UGH!” Nebula seems to struggle with the controls for a moment before slapping at the panel in frustration.

“No, I mean like in general. Bloodthirsty space invading aliens, you know.” Tony waves his hand. He squints at something peeking out from the bottom edge of the large forewindow of the ship. “Uh, what... is that?”

Nebula doesn’t even bother to look, she simply pushes away from her dock and stomps away into the depth of the ship.

Tony can hear her rummaging through storage compartments as a large dark shape protrudes from below them. A translucent energy field seems to be eminating from the opposing company, encompassing and immobilizing their ship.

He begins tapping and swiping at the panel in front of him. He finds a port and inserts a jump transmitter.

“Uh, F.R.I.D.A.Y.? What are we dealing with here? Friend or foe?”

“Analyzing.” Her interface weaves itself into the Milano’s online system and the information displayed on the dock becomes more intelligible. “Detecting several heat signatures. Humanoid. Possibly children aboard.”

At that moment Nebula whips past, cocking some sort of enormous plasma rifle. She hops onto the floor below the command docks and aims through the bottom of the forewindow.

“WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!” Tony jumps out of his seat and activates just the suit helmet. “Nutjob, what are you doing??” He calculates what’s left of the nanotech and summons a repulsor.

Nebula raises her voice over the sound of her rifle building charge. “Nothing will stand in my way of destroying Thanos!”

“The hull though? We kind of need that to be in the way. Well I do at least. You know, atmosphere and all? I breathe it. Are you even listening to me?”

Nebula narrows her eyes at her traitorous company, his hand shining some sort of bright build-up of electromagnetic energy directly at her head.

“You think you don’t need me? What of the ‘bloodthirsty space invading aliens’ you so greatly fear?” She smiles as a challenge.

Tony slowly steps down to where she’s standing, the nanotech creeping across his shoulders and torso, and shakes his head. “I only fear dumbasses with big guns.”

Nebula emits a shout of frustration and swings the rifle up at Tony at the same time as kicking his feet out from under him. She moves within the blink of an eye but Tony is ready, and the potential energy is redirected through the reactor in his chest as soon as his hand loses target. They both get blasted with respective bolts of plasma and are flung into opposite sides of the forewindow.

“You FOOL!” Nebula shouts.

Tony rubs his head and watches the dark shape below them slowly dwarfs their ship as it approaches. He fires the repulsor in his left hand to knock the plasma rifle out of Nebula scrabbling reach.

“I WILL MURDER YOU!” She screams, but her voice is suddenly drowned out by the sound of the Milano shuddering and straining against the translucent stasis field.

A black shadow opens in front of them and their captured ship is pulled inside.

 

* * *

 

It feels like hours later when Tony wakes up. His neck and back ache from being tied to a chair. He blinks wearily in the dim light and spots an unconscious Nebula in a similar position.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Status.”

He receives no answer and notices that his jacket is gone. Tony starts to panic slightly, feeling helpless in just his t-shirt and pants.

He jerks as a piece of rock suddenly skitters across the floor.

“Oop, there goes anotha’.”

An enormous shape materializes out of the shadows and Tony cranes his neck upward.

“Ay man. My name’s Korg. Sorry about the debris. I’m made of rocks.” Korg kicks the piece away. “Also sorry ‘bout all this,” he gestures to Tony’s restraints, “but technically you’re prisoners. I’m ‘ere to interrogate you.” He looks around. “Any chance... I could also get a chair...” he thinks aloud in his quiet voice.

Tony blinks his eyes wide and wiggles his fingers. Definitely not imaging a giant talking pile of rocks. He still considers the possibility of head trauma.

“Anyway,” Korg clears his throat, “um, welcome. First of all.” He concedes to standing awkwardly in front of Tony’s chair, hands clasped behind his back. “Second of all, who are you and what business do you ‘ave on Titan?”

Tony side-eyes Nebula but she remains unresponsive, slumped in her chair.

“S’alright, we mean you no harm. Just needed to borrow some fuel. Oop,” Korg glances up at a corner in the dark ceiling.

Tony glances as well, but whatever Korg is looking at is out of his range of sight. “Can I... uh...” He tries to sit up a bit, but his restraints are too tight. “Listen, uh, Korg...”

“Yep, go on.”

“I’ve got to warn you, this cyborg lady you got tied up over here? She is not going to be a happy camper when she wakes up.” He stalls as he considers his options in this situation. Should he cooperate? Is it more likely they’ll be killed than released?

“Ah, well. What can you do.” Korg shrugs.

“I’m going to suggest, uh, let us go? Less of a chance of her going on a murderous rampage and killing half your crew.” Tony discreetly uses one of his shoes to untie the laces of the other.

“Mm, I’m afraid no can do. ‘Sides, probably couldn’t do much more damage than what’s already been done.”

“What happened?” He arches his foot to loosen the shoe.

“Folks left an’ right disappearing. I seen some just up and disintegrate like ancient Kronens. Dust in the wind, I tell ya. It’s a mystery.” Korg shakes his head sadly.

Tony pauses for a moment in his machinations. His blood runs cold as he recalls the face of a scared boy and the feeling of his warmth dissipating in his arms.

“Lost me best mate too. His name was Miek. Loved his knives, he did. That son of a gun...” Korg hangs his head and Tony pushes the dark memory away at the sight of the opportunity.

He flings his shoe off as hard as he can and it smacks Korg in the face. As the giant reels, Tony throws himself and the chair he’s tied to into the unconscious Nebula with a yell. They both crash into the floor painfully.

Nebula shakes her head as the room spins. She’s lying on her back tied to a chair with the human groaning on his side nearby.

Before she has time to scream at him, she suddenly registers the Kronen in the room.

“Oi, that wasn’t very nice. I was havin’ a moment there, you know?”

“Get us out of here!” Tony yelps and Nebula spurs into action.

A compartment in her arm opens to reveal a small laser that burns through the hyper-tensile retraints as she kicks at the bottom rung of the chair, slowly denting the metal with each heave. She shoves herself against the restraint straps repetitively.

“Woah there, let’s all just calm down now,” Korg says with alarm. He steps forward with his hands up. “I don’t want to have to use violent coercive force on you.”

Nebula screams in frustration. She finally frees her arms by snapping the damaged straps and rolls backwards into a low crouch.

“Okay, can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Korg lunges forward with a shout and Nebula dives at his head.

Meanwhile, Tony haphazardly scoots his chair across the floor, away from the conflict. He clenches his teeth at the pain in his shoulder. It must’ve been what he fell on.

The clamorous sound of stone against metal fills the room and the Kronan’s shuffling bounces Tony on the floor. Nebula swings her bodyweight around to throw Korg off his balance before she launches herself off his head. He crashes against the wall and pieces of rock and dust spray across the floor. Nebula lands like a cat and sprints forward to snatch the metal chair she was tied to off the floor. With another yell, she runs at the wall, using it as a springboard in order to bring the chair down on Korg’s head.

“Hellfires, woman! Shit hurts!” Korg backs away and swats her next swing of the chair out of the air. He kicks her in the stomach and she slams against the far wall.

Nebula picks herself up off the floor and screeches as she launches forward again. Before she can attack, however, her body is encompassed by white hot electricity. She falls heavy on the floor, unconscious once more.

“That’s enough,” a voice says flatly from the open doorway. The female speaker steps forward into the dim light and Tony recognizes a familar sway in her movement. “Korg, take the cyborg back to her holding cell. I’ll finish the interrogation.”

“Cripes, that hurt. What kind of manners...” Korg mumbles as he rubs his head and slowly drags Nebula out of sight. The door slides closed behind them.

“Why were you on Titan? All life on that planet perished ages ago.” The woman crosses her arms and stares hard at Tony sweating on the floor.

He unclenches his teeth for a necessary quip. “Quick question. Are you drunk? You know I can smell it on you, right? That’s not very professional.”

She steps forward and leans on her knee, nudging the toe of her boot into his dislocated arm.

Tony presses his forehead into the cold floor and yells. His head swims.

“Yeah, tough guy. Game’s up. Who are you and what’s your business in this system?”

“OKAY! Okay, just—“ Tony looses another groan, “take the fuel! Just take it! Not my ship!” He breathes carefully, trying to ride the waves of pain.

Valkyrie steps back. “Are you human? What is it with humans... You’re not going to turn big and green too, are you?”

Tony quirks an eyebrow up at the woman looming over him. He pants hoarsely, “you know... Hulk? Bruce?” His voice cracks slightly.

Valkyrie’s eyebrows pinch for a split second and she seems lost in a memory. Then suddenly her features harden and she steps over him to abruptly right his chair.

Tony squeezes his eyes shut as his shoulder shifts in his restraints. He doesn’t see her pull a flask from inside her coat and take a swig, but he smells it.

“If you give me some of that, I will tell you anything you want.” Tony leans his head back with a relenting sigh. The events of the day rest heavily on his shoulders and he feels exhaustion washing over him. All he has left to hope for is a return to unconsciousness.

Valkyrie smirks and slides the flask back into her coat. “Take a deep breath.”

“Wait—“ Tony screams as Valkyrie pops his shoulder back into its socket. He slumps forward in the restraints, sweating beads and breathing heavily.

Valkyrie steps around him and picks up the dented chair that Nebula had weaponized. It wobbles slightly as she places it in front of Tony and takes a seat.

She stares at him with her fingers laced for a minute or two. Tony’s breathing calms and for once, he doesn’t feel the motivation to make any sarcastic remarks.

“Who is Bruce Banner to you?”

Tony smiles softly. His eyes are closed as he remains slumped over. “A coworker.”

“So you must know Thor Odinson.”

Tony sits up at that moment and squints into the eyes of the woman sitting before him. “Yes.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise! I really hope Tony and Nebula encounter Valkyrie and Korg in Infinity War: Part Two. These characters were fun to write!


End file.
